Administrative Assistant Resume Sample

The following Administrative Assistant resume sample and writing tips will help improve your chances of getting an interview. Please take a careful look at our tips and comment if you have a question.

Administrative Assistant Resume Template

1245 Ankeny Street, Portland, OR 43543

(752)653-5987

Diazelena@gmail.com

Administrative Assistant with over 5 years of experience managing business office functions and providing executive level support to principals and clients. Seeking to apply my detail-oriented talents and adaptable personality to fulfill the company’s needs. Possess a BA in English and am bilingual in English/Chinese.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

MICRO COMMUNICATIONS Kansas City, KS

Office ManagerSeptember 2011 – Present

Maintain and update up to 15 budget spreadsheets for all projects, reconciling any errors.

Assist principals in drafting and editing in memos, reports, and proposals.

3 Rules for Administrative Assistant Resume Writing

A career as an administrative assistant, while not glamorous, is an option with steady growth and opportunities for advancement. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects administrative employment to grow by over 15% through 2022. In addition, with enough experience administrative assistants can move up to higher paying jobs like office managers and executive assistants.

If you are looking to impress the hiring manager and snag an interview then follow these resume tips below.

1. The Career Objective

An effective career objective should not be generic. It should be short, sweet, and take no time in explaining why you should be hired for the specific position. It should begin by stating your years of experience and the main duties you performed during this time. Remember a great resume will be tailored to fit the job being applied for, so when listing these duties try to hit on the required responsibilities of that job.

Next, tell the hiring manager your unique qualities that will help the company be successful. For an administrative assistant, having an adaptable personality is a good trait to have as you are the first impression for new visitors/clients to the office.

Lastly, end your career objective with your educational degrees, certifications, and language proficiency. While being bilingual is not usually required for administrative assistants, it may be a nice bonus for companies that work with international clients.

2. Professional Experience Section: Be Selective

When writing your professional experience section, it’s important to note that you should not list out your day to day responsibilities. (listing too much non-critical information is one way many resumes end up in the trash. Read about the 5 other resume killers here.) Be selective when choosing which responsibilities to add and list only those that meet the requirements stated in the job you are applying for. This will save the hiring manager time and garner interest for an initial interview.

Also, try to start each point off with an action verb that will liven up your professional experience section. Stay away from run of the mill phrases like “responsible for,” or “worked on.” Instead use verbs that will catch the hiring manager’s eye like “maintained,” “coordinated,” and “increased.”

One last final point on your professional experience, make an effort to add a few quantifiable points. For example the applicant above adds:

Maintain and update up to 15 budget spreadsheets for all projects, reconciling any errors.

These points help to instill confidence in the hiring manger that you can perform the required functions of the position.

3. Stand out the from the Competition with an Additional Skills Section

The key to an effective additional skills section is to fill it with skills that are required or relevant to the position. For instance, adding words per minute (WPM) to a truck driver’s resume won’t do much good as most of their job is done behind the wheel and not a computer. However, adding WPM to an administrative assistant resume, as the applicant above does, will strengthen it. The additional skills section for an administrative assistant resume should also add skill in Microsoft Office.

More often than not, knowledge of Microsoft Office is required for administrative assistant positions. It’s also important to note that the applicant above does not list each Microsoft Office application as a single point, but instead combines them. The space on your resume is precious, so don’t waste it. Combine like points to save space.

Finally, administrative assistant resumes should also consider adding skills in programs such as PhotoShop, Illustrator, and accounting software like Quickbooks to help strengthen your resume. If you are a senior level applicant you may want to try adding a qualifications summary at the top of your resume to clearly and immediately communicate your skillset. You can read all about how to write a qualification summary here.

If you have any questions of comments on writing an administrative assistant resume, feel free to comment below. If you are curious about other important parts of the resume such as the contact information section or education section you should read our comrehensive resume sectional guide.